Mike Kaloski-Naylor

"Accelerate has given this year momentum. Month by month we got to know each other as writers, shared our experience and deepened our industry knowledge. And it gave me the opportunity to focus on a script idea I’ve been thinking about for a while. At the end of the programme I know more about my own writing, am more connected, and feel a greater sense of belonging as a writer. Having MS, Accelerate also helped me explore how to prioritise my writing over a longer timeframe."

Mhairi Ledgerwood

"I’ve absolutely loved my time on Accelerate. Being a female playwright over the age of 40, you can feel a bit invisible in the theatre industry. I’ve seen so many pots of funding that have an age limit, which completely disregards the fact that writers often come to it later in life, due to so many reasons, such as class issues or caring responsibilities. Having this group for writers aged 35+ really helps to redress the balance. More of this please!"

Ginni Manning

"Like most state educated kids growing up in the eighties, being a writer wasn’t a consideration as a profession- it wasn’t even mentioned in the career booklet we were given at school do ( see attached evidence courtesy of Bruno Brooke’s Which Way Now?!) Despite writing from a young age, I may as well have said I wanted to be an astronaut. I built my life around misplaced vocation and it wasn’t until I was in my 40s that I really understood what it was what I needed to do. Being older brings understanding and dedication to writing but also clarity about the impact of those missing years of career development. Hannah and Adam opened a space for us older writers to be together, to ask questions, to get answers and to be a community.

It is easy for all the responsibilities of later life to absorb your time; like caring for family or trying to keep afloat financially. When we haven’t been in the same space at Box of Tricks our Accelerate group write together online. When my Dad died earlier this year, I was writing his eulogy and- if you are going to get something right as a writer!  It was so comforting to get support from the other members of the group who had been through a similar experience.  Accelerate gave us the vital space we needed to maintain our identities as writers who were taken seriously. I started this year still trapped by the ongoing isolation I had become accustomed to through lockdown/ I am ending it with ongoing friendships and space to always be able to write with others and ask questions."

Jayne Marshall

"In December 2023 I was in the midst of ‘the year of firsts’. My mum had recently died and I was experiencing the first Christmas without her. There had been no new creative output, too many rejections to count and an utter sense of failure and grief going ten rounds in my head. Then Hannah emailed me and the first word I saw was ‘Congratulations!’. Talk about good timing! Since January, I’ve had the privilege of meeting and spending time with eleven amazing humans whose experiences and talent is inspiring, and their joy of writing is infectious. When I’m with the Accelerate group it’s ok to be not ok, it’s ok to doubt and it’s even better to celebrate our successes. I’m not an emerging artist - I’ve been around too long for that and I’ve put the work in. Within Box of Tricks I am a Writer."